In order to show loyalty to Li Cunhuan, Wang Shifan sent Xiao general Zhang Xian as the main general and Nangong Yan as the supervising army, leading 5,000 Pinglu cavalry and 10,000 Pinglu infantry to attack Wang Maozhang stationed in Linqu. to show their loyalty.

You see, I have offended Yang Xingmi now, let alone Zhu Wen, I am self-defeating, loyal enough, right?

Li Cunhuan also reciprocated by appointing Wang Shifan's younger brother Wang Shiqiong as the deputy envoy of Pinglu Observation. The Observation Envoy was born from the Tang Dynasty Interview Envoy, which was generally responsible for reporting and impeaching lawless officials, which is equivalent to the current Commission for Discipline Inspection. However, due to the general reasons, the observation envoys later concurrently served as the defense envoys of the local feudal towns or the regimental training envoys, and naturally began to intervene in local management with military power. The power of the Observer became greater, and he naturally became a warlord. And in the case of the festival envoy, the festival envoy also serves as an observer.

However, Li Cunhuan is different, he pays attention to the separation of military and political affairs, and he has established the three powers of reading. The envoy of the festival shall be the envoy of the festival, and shall not concurrently serve as the envoy of support or observation. The Observation Envoy manages the rule of the people, while the Observation Envoy replaces the surname of the Observation Envoy Discipline Inspection Commission.

Although the power is not as great as that of the observer envoy in other places, Wang Shifan is also very grateful, and the observation deputy envoy is equivalent to the current position of vice governor, which is enough to see Li Cunhuan's sincerity.

Wang Shifan became more and more attentive, he was worried that Zhang Xian would not be able to completely annihilate this army, so he asked Wang Jian to lead an army of 30,000 to attack. made up my mind to take Wang Maozhang to make a vote.

Li Cunhuan didn't take it seriously, he just led the soldiers and horses to control the army in Qingzhou. According to Guo Chongtao's suggestion, he selected elite soldiers and horses to join his own army. In this way, Li Cunhuan's soldiers and horses are only seven or eight thousand, and Wang Shifan can accept it, but although there are many soldiers and horses in Pinglu, the elite ones are only seven or eight thousand, and Li Cunhuan draws this one. But Pinglu's spine was removed, and even if Wang Shifan wanted to regret it, he was powerless to resist Lu Long's military might.

But he didn't want Li Cunhuan to just control the 40,000 Ping Lu army in Qingzhou, but Zhang Xian came with bad news. He was defeated by Wang Maozhang, and Li Cunhuan couldn't help but be curious, knowing that Zhang Xian had brought a full 15,000 troops, and there were 5,000 square Lu cavalry. Cavalry is no match for infantry, and training 1,000 light cavalry is equivalent to training 5,000 light infantry. If it's an equipped iron rider, it's even more powerful. At least ten times the cost of forming a light infantry.

Soldiers and horses have an advantage in both quality and quantity, and Zhang Xin is not a person who does nothing, of course, he can't talk about any generals, but it's too inferior, right?

Li Cunhuan immediately summoned the messenger who came to report the news and wanted to hear the situation in detail.

Wang Shifan immediately brought the envoy over, which attracted a lot of Lu Long's generals, although they were very disdainful of the combat effectiveness of the Pinglu army, but no matter how weak they were, there was a limit! What method did Wang Maozhang use to defeat Zhang Xin?

When Wang Shifan came to the big tent where Li Cunhuan lived, he saw Yang Shihou and Li Cunxiao, who had just been injured, half-lying on the soft cushion, and they didn't know what the two were talking about. Yelu Abaoji, Guo Chongtao, Yuan Xingqin, and Xie Yanzhang were comparing something, as if they were talking about martial arts problems.

Zhou Yanzhong, Feng Dao, Han Yanhui, Park Jinghui, and Jiang Xuanhui were chatting, while Li Cunhuan was sitting on a tiger skin chair holding a book, and he didn't know what kind of book it was, and he read it with relish. Feng Baodu stood behind Li Cunhuan, who became Li Cunhuan's chief of guard part-time after Pu Le was shot to death. Originally, Sha Cunke wanted to come back and be Li Cunhuan's chief of guard, but Li Cunhuan was unwilling and sent him to the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion to quell the chaos.

In the big tent, it can be said that more than eighty percent of Li Cunhuan's henchmen and generals are concentrated.

"I've seen Your Highness! I've seen you! Wang Shifan's attitude was very low, and he made a quartet, and all the mountains worshipped.

"The third brother is here! You're welcome, sit! Li Cunhuan was very polite to Wang Shifan, patted the chair next to him, and said to Wang Shifan. Wang Shifan and Li Cunhuan worshipped, Li Cunxiao was the greatest, Li Cunhuan was second, although Wang Shifan was older than Li Cunhuan, but he had the courage to be the second, so he naturally succumbed to the position of the third.

Wang Shifan was very moved, but others were not necessarily as polite as Li Cunhuan, Yang Shihou, Guo Chongtao, and Li Cunxiao snorted vigorously in unison, and their voices were unusually neat and loud. Yelu Abaoji and Yuan Xingqin looked at Wang Shifan with ill intentions, sneering again and again, and they didn't know what the hell they had in their hearts.

Feng Dao and a group of strategists looked at Wang Shifan with an indifferent face, and they didn't have the affection for Wang Shifan at all. The only attitude is not bad, probably Zhou Yanpet, who politely said to Wang Fan Infinite Tianzun.

Feng Dao and the others who provoked him glared at him angrily, but Zhou Yanzhong was now the number one mastermind under Li Cunhuan, and Feng Dao and they had no choice. In the final analysis, Feng Dao, Han Yanhui, and Park Jinghui are all just Li Cunhuan's secretaries, and their ability is mainly to help Li Cunhuan deal with cumbersome government affairs, and giving advice is not their strength.

Li Cunhuan's face darkened, and he scolded: "What is this, eldest brother, you are too, I have already married my third brother as brothers, don't mention the previous grievances and grievances." Okay? ”

Li Cunhuan personally came forward to defend it, and everyone couldn't help but say anything, only to say: "What His Highness said is very true!" "But as for how to do it, I'm afraid that's another matter.

However, Li Cunxiao still doesn't give much face, Wang Shifan tilts his head sideways, purses his mouth tightly, just doesn't say anything, what Li Cunhuan said is one thing, but he himself is the same thing. Li Cunhuan is not easy to force this kind of thing, so he personally took Wang Shifan's hand and let him sit beside him.

Wang Shifan smiled, not knowing what to say, but he was very moved by Li Cunhuan. In fact, he didn't know that Li Cunhuan was fighting Li Keyong's idea now. There is time for Wang Shifan to fight to the death, so naturally he wants to solve Wang Shifan's problem as soon as possible. More importantly, Li Cunhuan occupied the three prefectures of Zhu Wen in the Central Plains this time, and they were all on the side of Heping Lu and not on the side of Li Cunhuan's traditional territory.

If Li Cunhuan wants to keep the results of this southward trip to the Central Plains, he must get Pinglu. And Zhu Wen saw Li Cunhuan's weakness, so he desperately encouraged Wang Shifan to rebel. Otherwise, Li Cunhuan would treat Wang Shifan like this.

Li Cunhuan glanced at the messenger brought by Wang Shifan, and obviously saw that the person had just come down from the battlefield and was in the dust. He has always respected the martial artist Li Cunhuan, and said to the soldiers on the side: "Give this strong man a chair!" ”

"No!" The soldier shouted in response, and the messenger hurriedly thanked him, his eyes full of gratitude.

After the messenger sat down, Li Cunhuan went straight to the topic and let the messenger state.

Messenger: "Here's the thing, three days ago, General Zhang Xian led a large army to Linqu. Wang Maozhang probably felt that our army was strong, so he retreated to camp in Qishan Mountain, east of Linqu, and divided it into two gates. ”

"Come on, go to the map of Qingzhou." Li Cunhuan suddenly spoke.

Soon, someone brought a map of Qingzhou, which was three feet long and wide, and the topography of Qingzhou was clearly displayed, and there were paintings down to the big city and down to the small village.

"Where is Wang Maozhang camping?" Li Cunhuan asked.

The messenger walked to the map, looked at it carefully, pointed to a certain point of the mountain, and said: "It is here, this mountain is like the backbone of a wild boar, high in the north and south, slightly sunken in the middle, it looks like two mountains, the local people call it Pig's Back Mountain, it is a small branch of the mountain." At that time, Nangong Yanjianjun suggested that if the cavalry fought in the mountains, it would be wasted. The cavalry army was left at the foot of the mountain to respond, and the infantry army was divided into two parts, the troops surrounded but did not fight, and the other part attacked with all their might, destroying one of Wang Maozhang's soldiers and horses, and then attacking the rest of Wang Maozhang's soldiers and horses with all their might. ”

"Well, Nangong Yan's method is good, although it seems a little decent, but it is a safe way. Didn't Zhang Xian follow Nangong Yan's method? Li Cunhuan asked.

"It's not! General Zhang Xian followed the strategy of the Nangong Prison Army, and he divided the infantry army into two parts, one for 7,000 and one for 3,000, and 3,000 people surrounded the camp north of Zhubei Mountain. With 7,000 men, General Zhang Xian personally led the siege of the camp in the south. The messenger said.

"Then how can you lose?" The person who questioned him this time was Yang Shihou, and in his opinion, although this strategy was not seamless, it was the safest way in terms of the situation at that time. Those 3,000 soldiers and horses, although they can't break through the camp, should be enough to block the other party. Even if it can't be stopped, it should be able to delay for a while, enough to support the cavalry support under the mountain. At most, it is an undefeated situation, how can it evolve into a defeated situation? And it was a big defeat.

The messenger replied: "At the beginning, General Zhang led a large army to besiege Nanzhai, and the siege took three hours from early morning to noon! ”

Speaking of this, the messenger's face changed slightly, and he continued: "But at this time, Wang Maozhang led the army in Beizhai to attack suddenly. Three thousand soldiers and horses were crushed at once! ”

"Whew! Are Pinglu's soldiers and horses all waste wood! All at once it was a rout! When Li Cunxiao heard this, he scolded.

Wang Shifan and the messenger's faces changed greatly, Wang Shifan was embarrassed, and the messenger dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.

Li Cunhuan's heart moved, could it be that there was something wrong with it, and he asked, "What the hell is going on?" ”

But he didn't want Guo Chongtao to suddenly point to the outside of the tent and said: "It's cold!" ”

When the messenger heard this, Guo Chongtao cast a grateful look and added, "What this general said is very true. It was freezing at that time, and there was a light snow in the morning. The soldiers stayed in the field for three hours, while Wang Maozhang's soldiers and horses were raised in the tent for three hours. In addition, Nanzhai was breached, and everyone was happy. I didn't want Wang Maozhang to lead the troops to kill at this time, and he was caught off guard at all. Coupled with the cold hands and feet, he was defeated by Wang Maozhang at once. Wang Maozhang then led his troops and horses to Nanzhai, and General Zhang was flanked by the front and back, and he was immediately defeated. The Nangong Prison Army originally came down to the cavalry to go up the mountain to support, but they didn't want Wang Maozhang to be prepared, and ambushed three hundred world-famous Runzhou crossbowmen on the mountainside. The mountain road was difficult, the cavalry was not easy to walk, and the size was large, so they launched three attacks and were shot more than 500 people, and then they landed in Nanzhai. ”

"It's over!" Yang Shihou, Guo Chongtao, and Zhou Yanpet sighed at the same time.

Sure enough, the messenger's words were just as Yang Shihou, Guo Chongtao, and Zhou Yanpet expected. Wang Maozhang had already defeated Zhang Xian's department at this time, in the mountains, the cavalry was the opponent of the infantry, and finally Zhang Xian and Nangong Yan gathered the defeated troops, and found that only 3,000 cavalry and 6,000 infantry were gathered. At once went six thousand horses, including two thousand cavalry.

Li Cunhuan was also aroused by Wang Maozhang's fighting spirit, and said to the generals around him: "This Wang Maozhang is very interesting, I will personally lead the army forward." ”

"Your Highness, this is just a chicken and a dog, and you want to lead the army there in person!" Guo Chongtao said on the side of persuasion, and at the same time glanced at Yang Shihou.

Yang Shihou understood, and hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Highness, the last general is willing to go!" ”

Li Cunhuan shook his head and said, "You don't need to go, Qingzhou is left behind by you!" I personally captured this Wang Maozhang alive! This person must be a famous general in the future! Can it be cheaper Yang Xingmi. ”

Only then did everyone understand that Li Cunhuan had a heart of love for talent, and he didn't say much. The next day, Li Cunhuan personally led 5,000 soldiers of the Iron Cavalry to round Wang Jian's 30,000 army and went to Linqu.

Besides, Wang Maozhang of Linqu defeated Zhang Xian, and was just about to leave, but he didn't want to visit Malay to report, and the direction of Mulingguan increased troops. and was guarded by the general Kang Huaiying.

After a little pondering, Wang Maozhang knew that Zhu Jin must have received Li Cunhuan's order. plus knowing about Wang Shifan's surrender, otherwise he wouldn't dare to risk offending Yang Xingmi to stop him.

But Wang Maozhang is also helpless, Muling Pass was built by Qi during the Warring States Period, and the geographical location is extremely important, and it has the reputation of having a husband and a man. If the southern army wants to attack Qingzhou, it must conquer Muling Pass, otherwise it will either divert to the Central Plains, or it will only be able to attack Qingzhou by taking a long detour along the coastline of the Shandong Peninsula.

To the east, Laizhou and Dengzhou are all Wang Shifan's territory, so how can Wang Maozhang lead these thousands of soldiers and horses? If you go in the direction of the Central Plains, it will be even worse, you must go through the Qingzhou Governance Office. Now where the two armies of Li Cunhuan and Wang Shifan have been assembled, the number of people is probably 100,000, and where they go are even more sent to death.

Mulingguan? Wang Shifan did not think that with 7,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, he could conquer the arrogance of Muling Pass.

Wang Maozhang was helpless, so he had no choice but to send someone to Yang Xingmi for help. Of course, this request for help must not be counted on. I just hope that through diplomacy, Li Cunhuan will let himself return to Huainan, which was a very normal thing at that time.

So he made up his mind, defended to the death in Linqu, led the army to retreat from the pigback mountain, and camped on the mountainside of the mountain. At the same time, all the horse meat obtained before was cut and placed in the center of the camp, so that any soldier could enter and see, and the food was full. The morale of the Huainan army was greatly boosted, and because of the support of food, the soldiers were all gearing up, expressing confidence in holding the camp.

In fact, this is thanks to Nangong Yan who drove the horse army to attack the mountain, and Wang Maozhang killed thousands of war horses, so there is a lot of food. Otherwise, Wang Maozhang would not have the confidence to defend here. After all, he is a guest army, and the guest army has an advantage, generally speaking, it is to have a local festival envoy to provide food. But now Wang Shifan has turned against him, not to mention food, and not sending him troops and horses is already considered to be giving him face.

Besides, Yang Xingmi was shocked when he received Wang Maozhang's letter asking for help. But in a month or so, the peaks and loops turned around. If it was a month's time, Li Cunhuan conquered Qingzhou, and Yang Xingmi would not be surprised. What surprised him was that Li Cunhuan actually let Wang Shifan go. He hurriedly summoned his henchmen and chief thinker Yuan Zhen, as well as Dai Yougui, Li Decheng and others.

If Zhu Wen can succeed in history, it depends on Jingxiang. Then Yang Xingmi can have such a great achievement now, relying on Yuan Xi. His evaluation in history is similar to that of Jia Xu of the Three Kingdoms. History said that Yuan Xi strategized and made every calculation, and the later was exactly the same as Jia Xu's evaluation, good and peaceful? It means that it is not as good as Zhang Liang and Chen Ping?

And Dai You's rules are known in history: a few words to make decisions, go straight to the source, can be described as the outstanding minister!

This Li Decheng is even more remarkable, he is the greatest contributor to the destruction of Southern Wu and the establishment of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

To put it simply, none of the three guys recruited by Yang Xingmi are fuel-efficient lamps, and they are all guys with bad stomachs.

The three of them read Wang Maozhang's letter, and at first everyone was puzzled, but after a long time, Yuan Xian let out a long sigh.

Yang Xingmi couldn't help asking, "Sir, I don't know why I'm sighing?" ”

Yuan Xi sighed: "I'm sighing at Li Cunhuan's mind. ”

"I think it's stupid!" The fierce general beside Yang Xingmi, Li Hou, the deputy soldier and horse envoy of Heiyundu, couldn't help but say disdainfully.

"Definitely!" Yuan Xi shook his head, not annoyed, and said to Yang Xingmi: "I can see Li Cunhuan's intentions, he is plotting against Hedong, so he doesn't want to waste his energy in Pinglu, so he made concessions." But Wu Wang (referring to Yang Xingmi): What concessions do you think Li Cunhuan has made? ”

Yang Xingmi opened his mouth and said: "Let go of Wang Shifan, and let him go to Yichang as an observer, and let Wang Shifan's younger brother Wang Shiqiong serve as the deputy observer of Pinglu, heh!" ”

Yang Xingmi was not stupid, and immediately understood what was going on. "Wang Shifan's military power has been exploited!"

"That's right!" Yuan Xi nodded and said: "So Wang Shifan can't turn up any storms, and none of his generals has the prestige of Wang Shifan and can convince the public, so Li Cunhuan has already recovered Pinglu, and he only needs to slowly figure it out, at most three or five years, Pinglu will be Li Cunhuan's Yiyantang, which is better than sending a million troops and bleeding thousands of miles, and will be a good Pinglu!" ”

Speaking of this, Yuan Xi paused and sighed: "The most important thing is that Li Cunhuan will make a choice, many of you may think that Li Cunhuan let go of Wang Shifan and can't convince the public in this troubled world, it's too merciful, just like a goat can't rule the wolves, and will only be eaten by the wolves." But with proper kindness, it is easier to bring people to their hearts. ”

"How could this be?" The strategist Li Decheng couldn't help but be unconvinced, he was the most domineering.

Yuan Xi said: "This is like the way of businessmen, everyone is a businessman, and I am honest, naturally I am liked by the people, and in a few years, I can make a fortune." But if everyone is honest and I am cheating, this can make huge profits, and it will not take a few years to make a fortune. What do you lack most in this troubled world? ”

When Yang Xingmi heard this, he sighed and sighed: "Li Cunhuan is ahead of me in this regard!" ”

Li Decheng was still unconvinced, and said: "But the ambitious people under Li Cunhuan all have a fluke heart, and they all think about such reading ability to dominate one side. How does Li Cunhuan convince the public? ”

Yuan Xi said: "This is exactly how powerful Li Cunhuan is, he is now ready to plot against Hedong, if he kills Li Keyong, he will gain great prestige." Who would dare to have two hearts among the people under him? Could it be that they themselves are more powerful than Li Keyong? If he lets Wang Shifan go, he will not be called cowardly, but will become benevolent! ”

"But how to rescue Wang Maozhang now is the first thing." Dai Yougui said.

Only then did everyone react, and they all deviated from the topic.

But he didn't want Yuan Xi to shake his head and said: "Li Cunhuan is the ancient Cao Ying, Wang Maozhang is a general, Li Cunhuan may let go of the opportunity to recover him!" ”

"Wang Maozhang dares to surrender?" When Yang Xingmi heard this, he shouted imposingly. In fact, he is not confident that Wang Maozhang is loyal to him, but that he holds Wang Maozhang's wife and son in his hands.

"How old is Wang Maozhang?" Yuan Xi asked.

"One in thirty!" After Yang Xingmi finished speaking, he immediately came to his senses, Wang Maozhang was only thirty-one years old, and it was not his parents who were in his hands. Although it is said that the wife and son have feelings. But what era is it? Wang Maozhang will marry his wife and concubine again, and he will have children in a few years.

"You don't have to surrender, do you?" Yang Xingmi's voice was a little less confident when he spoke this time.

"Do your best, obey the destiny of heaven. sent someone to make peace with Li Cunhuan, hoping that he would release Wang Maozhang and the 7,000 soldiers and horses back. It's a pity that Qian Biao is restless now, otherwise King Wu, you can lead the general to the north, and while Zhu Wen is now in a hurry, Li Cunhuan is trying to plot Hedong and seize the Central Plains. Yuan Xi said with regret on his face.

"Sir, I heard you say that Li Cunhuan seized Hedong, why did Li Cunhuan have to seize Hedong? Isn't the Central Plains better? Li Hou suddenly asked.

Li Decheng also nodded and said: "Indeed, if it were me, although I would not plot against the Central Plains, I would plot against Wei Bo." If you get Weibo, you will have a springboard to enter the land of Heluo. Moreover, Wei Bo is rich, and the entire north can be included in the top three! ”

"In fact, Li Cunhuan is probably going to sweep the entire north of the Yellow River! It's not just the Hedong Domain that is plotting! It was Yang Xingmi who answered, and he also saw Li Cunhuan's strategic intentions. He muttered: "Since ancient times, although the two rivers have been divided into two bodies, in fact, if you want to become a hegemon, you must unite the two rivers. In particular, Lulong, which Li Cunhuan occupies, is a plain land, unlike Hedong, where rivers and mountains are on the surface, each with its own dangers and obstacles. You can send troops to plunder Lu Long, and make Lu Long helpless in the face of the dangerous fortress. ”

(To be continued)